Israel will start building 3000 new homes illegally...one day after Palestine UN vote

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JERUSALEM — Israel approved the construction of 3,000 new homes in Jerusalem and the West Bank less than 24 hours after the U.N. General Assembly voted to recognize Palestine as a non-member observer state.

Israel also intends to move ahead on procedures necessary to plan for construction in a West Bank area between the Jewish settlement of Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem, two government officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

The Palestinian Authority, the United Nations, and the United States consider all Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal.

The area between Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim is particularly sensitive because Israeli construction there may cut off Palestinians from their aspirational capital in east Jerusalem in a future peace accord.

Israel settlements and east Jerusalem construction “are counterproductive and make it harder to resume direct negotiations or achieve a two-state solution,” White House Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in an email Friday.